.........GREAT ACTORS, AND A GREAT SCRIPT LOADED WITH ONE-LINERS MAKE THIS ONE OF THE TOP COMEDIES OF ALL TIME.
I LOVE THE SCENE WHERE THE CLEANING LADY IS SHOT "SO FAST SHE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TIME TO FALL DOWN" ALTHOUGH SHE IS DEAD, SHE IS STANDING UP BENT OVER AND THE POLICE OFFICER SAYS "THEY'LL PROBABLY HAVE TO BURY HER LIKE THAT"
I saw this movie in a theater when it first came out.
It is my favorite comedy because of the surprise laughs.
It is also my favorite comedy because of the allusions to CASABLANCA and the detective genre films, like SAM SPADE. The more you know of 1940s movies, the better you will "get" the set-ups and the gags in "THE CHEAP DETECTIVE."
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• When the widow, hiding in the bathroom, accidentally spills the ashes of her cremated husband into the toilet, and she asks Peter Faulk what to do, Peter Faulk flushes the toilet!
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"The Shadow knows." -- Lamont Cranston
This is one of the funniest entries from the Neil Simon files, with a wonderful cast, led impeccably by Peter Falk who is LOL funny.
sharewell, i wouldn't go as far as to call it that, most the humor is not in my taste. i never found comedy sourounding blood, death and so on to be hilarius. i just don't get it. though there are alote of funny actors in it, who can be seen in alote of FUNNY mel brooks movies, like dom delouise for one.
you're like a cactus flower, and i stay careful around you,
you're so rough, the way you sting like you do,
that mysterius lady, frightens me sometime,
the way you play your hand, the look you got in your eye,
you can be so mean, and you can be so nice,
you're confusing like a dream, and it feels alright,
why can't i see another like you come along,
cactus flower, in a dry desert, you blom alone,
amigo, be careful of that cactus flower,
she can take you down, or take you higher,
is she poison, is she nurture,
i'm too affraid, she could hurt you,
i've seen you blom in my years,
times you brought me to joy, times you brought me to tears,
one of her looks, could shoot you full of holes,
like a barrel of beer, on some old saloon wodden floor,
all around, plants come and go, but that cactus flower, she continues to grow.
Hilarious, underrated comedy
sharei agree whole-heartedly. this is one of those underrated comedies that deserves more attention. it is so good and so funny! eileen brennan should not only have been nominated for an oscar, she should have won it. love this film!
shareI can safely say this film probably has the funniest dead bodies ever.
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Reason is a pursuit, not a conclusion.
Peter Falk is perfect.. like when he's recalling receiving the letter at the train station, then trying to read it in the rain.. Louise Fletcher nearly steals the show in hilarious Ingrid Bergman send-up.
shareNope, second funniest... DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID takes the #1 spot in my book
shareI saw it for the first time last night and I didn't think it was that funny. "Murder By Death" was better IMO. I'll watch it again to see if I'm not missing anything. Some of the character seem annoying to me like the widow, and the woman Falk's character ended up and Brennan's character who was the singer. I was maybe expecting something else. I will have to lower my expectation while viewing it again.
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